Where Filmed

Where is Game of Thrones filmed?

The third season of the epic series is here and this is a great excuse to explore some beautiful exotic places, where the most pirated TV show of 2012 is travelling this time. We'll go from the extreme cold landscapes of Iceland to the sun-kissed sandy towns in North Africa.

David Benioff, one of the creators of Game of Thrones, explains in the video blogs that the team prefers to spend the money on locations rather than with FX or using green screens in the background. To make it possible, three units filmed the different plots of the story in parallel in several countries.

This HBO production is based in Northern Ireland and most of the locations for the first two seasons have been filmed around Belfast, but we are not visiting these ones. You can find a map including the filming locations of Game of Thrones for all the series up to now at the end of the article.

The historical coastal town of Essaouira in Morocco was chosen to continue the adventures of Daenerys Targaryen, this time in the warped city of Astapor. Also some scenes set in King’s Landing where filmed here. Image by Lukas Vermeer

Look at the forest of spears in the background. It seems that The Khaleesi is finally going to get her long-expected army.Image by Mohamed Amine Lakaab

The Unsullied are a disciplined horde of eunuch slave-soldiers for sale.Image courtesy of HBO

Zoom off: Medina of Essaouira is an UNESCO World Heritage fortified seaport from the late 18th century. Its narrow streets are a mix of North African and European styles. Image by Alain Bachellier

The city seems out of a tale from the 1,001 nights. That may explain why it has been used as exteriors for a long list of films since the sixties, from Lawrence of Arabia to Gladiator, including the cult movie Time Bandits. Image by Thomas van Ardenne

The look and the weather conditions at this side of the Atlas Mountains makes Aït Benhaddou a perfect filming location.Image by Pablo Pecora

Just a few miles from there, the considered world's largest film studio was built in the desert: Atlas Studios. Many sets from the filming of various movies remain in place, and because of this, according to Wikitravel you can go on a guided tour as it's becoming a popular tourist destination. Image by Thomas van Ardenne

The fate of the Iron Throne is being forged here, as the Mother of Dragons makes its way through the lands of Essos.Image courtesy of HBO

One of the new locations in Croatia, near the old city of Dubrovnik, is the park Trsteno Arboretum. These are the gardens where the court maidens weave the plot in King's Landing. Image by Dick and Jane Travel

Now we are going North of the Wall once more, carried away by the out-of-this-world landscapes of Iceland.Image by Viaggiatore Fantasma

The destiny of Jon Snow among the wildlings has been filmed near the shores of the Lake Mývatn.Image courtesy of HBO

The area has a forest of bizarre rock lava pillars, known as the black castles (Dimmuborgir).Image by Genevieve Romier

As it couldn't be otherwise in this astonishing land, there's plenty of awesome geological features around.Image by Luis Pabón

During the filming it was genuinely cold, enough to get real stalactites going down the actors' noses.Image by Slava Rodionov

This is how Hverfjall, one of the nearby volcanoes, looks like in spring.Image by Hugi Ásgeirsson

The scenery has many cones, known as pseudocraters, like this island shaped also as a triangle. Pseudocraters are different from volcanoes as lava never erupted from them. Image by Chris Zielecki

The cave of Grjótagj is where Jon Snow and Ygritte - Spoiler Alert! - are having a splash with a happy ending in the 5th episode. Image by Boreal Travel

As tourist you can also have a burning bath in this magical geothermal cave, with water at 40-60°C (100-140°F).Image by Boreal Travel